'Speed up infra projects to match growth pace'

Development projects in the Millennium City need to be pushed to catch up with the rapid pace of urbanisation, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Thursday.

The chief minister said that Gurgaon's infrastructure standards fall short of the requirement because the city has grown almost overnight.

"We see a gap in available infrastructure as against the rapidly rising requirement. We are taking initiatives for defining the skylines and landscapes of our towns. However, we need to have some patience, as most of our major infrastructure projects have a long gestation period," Hooda said at a conference on 'Smarter Cities' organized by IT major IBM.

Since urbanization has become a phenomenon in the state due to its proximity to the national capital, he said the way to meet the infrastructural demand is adopting the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model.

"Our intra-city monorail project like the rapid metro of Gurgaon is being developed primarily on the PPP mode," he said.

Being in the neighbourhood of the national capital, cities such as Gurgaon and Faridabad have to bear tremendous pressures of housing and commercial spaces, Hooda said.

"Our towns, especially those in the neighbourhood of Delhi, are becoming more and more attractive for residential and professional purposes," he said.

Hailing his government's policies, the chief minister said that industry-friendly policies, responsive administration, peaceful law and order conditions and abundant skilled manpower have made Haryana a preferred investment destination for domestic and foreign investors

The chief minister also said that the state government is committed towards improving transport facilities and his government will try to take metro to Faridabad, Bahadurgarh, Sonipat and Panipat for improving commuting between Delhi and Haryana's cities.

IBM Corporation's chairman of the board Samuel J Palmisano said there was a need to have smarter leaders to handle the pressures of urbanisation.

"We have to make use of technology and create concrete systems that solve the civic woes of cities," he said.

According to studies held by IBM, the impact of rush hour on congestion in New Delhi is between five to seven times more negative than in Bangalore and Mumbai.

IBM India MD Shanker Annaswamy said there was a need for collaboration between city administration and corporate companies which can help analyse social media, assess public opinions and provide viable solutions to various problems.